Eddy Merckx-the Sphinx

Updated on February 2, 2010

Eddy Merckx

St. Peter was showing a “recent arrival”
around heaven when a rider, on the finest bicycle imaginable, rides by and
appears to be the great Eddy Merckx. The recently deceased cyclist says to St.
Peter, “I didn’t know that the “Cannibal” had died.” St. Peter responds,
“That’s not Eddy Merckx. Sometimes God just pretends that He is Eddy Merckx.”

Sphinx

Eddy, I never
knew you!

You can't be real.
You were a super hero. You only live and lived in magazines, books, newspapers, and
such.

People still come
to you as if you were the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the hanging gardens of Babylon, Machu
Picchu, or any wonder of the world.

You were the
Cannibal!

You gobbled up
victory after victory. You were never satisfied. You wanted to win it all.

Fair enough- if
you’re going to show up for a duel, you may as well try to out-duel your
opponents.

Five Tours de
France, five Giri d’Italia, and three world road championships are among your
exploits.

In 1974 you only
(only) entered 140 races (still only 365 days in a year). You won 38 of them. That is a 27% average. That’s
pretty darn good. When one considers that maybe a hundred people are trying to
win the same races that you are, it’s phenomenal. In this magical year you also
pulled off the hat-trick and won the big three. All in this one year you won
the Tour de France, the Giro, and the world championship.

How is this
possible for a man who walks as flesh and blood among us?

You won seven
Milan-San Remos. You won two Tours of Flanders. You won three Paris-Roubaix.
You won five Liege-Bastogne-Lieges. You won two Amstel Gold Races.

Along with setting the hour record in 1972, you also won the
Tour de France, the Giro, five major classics and 43 other races.

You’ve won three
Ghent-Wevelgems, three Fleche Wallonnes, three Paris-Nices, three Barracchis,
six Montjuich Hill Climbs, and more.

Your strength and
endurance are legendary. You had no weaknesses. You could time-trial. You could
climb. You could, indeed, sprint.

You won eight
stage victories in a single Tour de France. It’s a record. You did it twice in
1970 and 1974. You won six in 69 and again in 72.

You also won the
polka dot jersey as king of the mountains in 69 and 70.

You won the
“Tour” overall and on points, the yellow jersey and the green jersey, three
times, 1969, 1971, and 1972.

You hold the record for most days in the yellow jersey of
the “Tour”, 96 times.

You hold the
record for most days in the Giro’s pink jersey, 78 times.

You are the only
rider to win the Tour and Giro three times.

You did all this
against some of the greatest cycling heroes the world has ever seen. You
out-rode Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Luis Ocana, Raymond Poulidor,
Bernard Thevenet, Rik Van Looy, and Joop Zoetemelk.

Joop Zoetemelk
was an incredible cyclist but said this about Eddy Merckx: “In those days, the
big names didn’t ride to win. First there was Merckx, and then another
classification began after him.”

This was an
incredible athlete praising an athlete of another world.

In 1585 races as
a pro, Merckx won 445. This is almost a third. In 1969 he won exactly 33.3
percent. In 1970, he won almost 38 percent. In 1971 he won 45 percent.

How is this
possible? They saw him coming. Then they saw him going.

A single stage of
the Tour is said to be the equivalent of a marathon. The Tour averaged 21
stages when Eddy raced. He only rode seven Tours. He won five. He won the most stage
wins, 35.

In 1975, Merckx
raced 151 races and won 38. Besides the Tour de France, where he finished
second, he raced Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, the Tour de Suisse,
Milan-San Remo, and all the other spring classics – over 200 days of racing in
all, including six-day track races in Grenoble, Antwerp, and Ghent.

Put the miles
together and you go beyond the moon.

You, Eddy Merckx,
were known as the cannibal for your insatiable desire for victory.

You were also
known as the Sphinx!

You didn’t change
your expression. Neither the glow of
victory nor the disappointment of defeat left their mark on your face. Your
expression was that of the Sphinx. Everyone recognized Eddy Merckx. No one knew
him. You even said, “No one really knows me.”

“He would never
let his personality show, probably out of a fear that it would mean he may
reveal his weak points. He simply could not allow anyone to know if something
was wrong with him.”

Eddy Merckx was
not the most expansive rider in the peloton. He always kept his cards close to
his chest. If someone tried to knock at the door to see into his personality he
would be willing and pleasant enough about opening it, but it would usually be
left only slightly ajar. The few who were allowed to enter had to concede that
it was a bare room in which there were several doors from which he could soon
be let out.

You protected
your soul in the same way an oyster protects its pearl.

Eddy Merckx

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Comments 10 comments

Great tribute, nicely written! I've done enough road work in my time to know that there are men and boys. And that Eddy Merckx was just out there, on his own.

Micky Dee 6 years ago Author

Paraglider, sir, you know your cycling history. As you can see by the lack of comments that Eddy may not be deemed as recent history. But his accomplishments are astronomical. You have indeed your "roadwork-homework" if you know the "Sphinx". When he rode, the rest rode for second place. Thank you sir for coming and commenting.

prettydarkhorse 6 years ago from US

great tribute and you write very well Mick, I missed this one before, take care, Maita

Micky Dee 6 years ago Author

Thank you Maita. I appreciate your going back into the past for this one. Stay warm. It's getting colder here for a few days.

nomoretrucks 5 years ago from scotland

This is beautiful MD, My first decent bike when i was eleven was a second hand, bright blue- ten speed Eddy Merckx. I was so chuffed with it, i rode all the way to my Mams house which was thirty miles away at the time. But pretended i was in the 'Milk Race' 'cos one of my uncles gave me an old style 'Milk Race' cap similar style to the one Eddy wears in the Video. I was only disappointed when an old bikey told me 'Eddy wouldn't be seen dead on it!' I wish i had kept on biking back then. At least i would have been more 'bike shaped' now. The narrators voice in that vid is Phil Ligget the voice of 'Le tour' for us here. Great hub. MD- the sage of cycling knowleage!!!!!!

Micky Dee 5 years ago Author

I bet that bike was very close to what Eddy has had at some time. What a silly thing to say.

Man! You have some cycling history nomo! I can't wait for your next hub! God bless bud!

CyclingFitness 5 years ago from Nottingham UK

Great article.

Micky Dee 5 years ago Author

Thank you CyclingFitness! Keep up your great work brother man.

nomoretrucks 4 years ago from scotland

Hiya Mickey- nomo here. Hope all is well. Had to tell you dude, im going for another 4000 kms from Sunday.(almost spur of moment thing) From Portugal to the uk this time. Got a cold which feels like the Ebola virus presently and chose to leave my decent bike behind to ride a wreck which i wont find until Monday prob. No pressure to do many hundred milers consecutively but if i start feeling better i probably will.

just cant find anything to replace the beauty of this distance cycling (never say never again/again/again) Godwilling if i make it back, it will feel like 4001 kms.

No pc for a while. Will contact you MD after this Journeys end. Hope your various aches and pains aint beating you bud- you are a much respected star.